Market Round-up

Updated: Sep 27 2002, 05:30am hrs

CALL MONEY

Call rates closed at around 5.75% on Thursday. There was virtually no activity in the inter-bank call money market, barring a very few deals, a dealer with a state-run bank said. This is due to the nationwide bandh in protest against the terrorist attack in Gujarat, which hit the inter-bank markets. Few deals was seen at around 5.75%. Most of the Wednesday-deals were two-day deals and that was another reason why the market remained inactive, another dealer said. Inter-market repo deals worth Rs 25 crore was seen. Meanwhile, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) accepted all the eight bids received for Rs 11,075 crore at its repos-auction at the cut of rate of 5.75%. There was no bid for reverse-repo. Government securities (G-Secs) prices gained 5 paise amidst thin trades.FORECAST: Call rates seen steady on Friday.

SPOT DOLLAR

The rupee closed almost steady against the dollar at 48.3950/4050 on Thursday. The rupee opened lower 48.4100/4150 from its close of 48.3975/4050, on stray demand from players. The forex market remained dull on account of bandh. There was not much demand from the players as participation remained low. Mostly sellers were seen in the market and that drove the rupee up later, a dealer with a PSU bank said. In a day like this, only exporters were seen in the market, he said. The intra-day high was seen at 48.3850, with 48.4150 being the intra-day low. On Wednesday, the rupee closed a notch lower but the concern over Gujarat did not hit the market much. Players become matured enough to react to this attach, a foregin bank dealer said. The RBI fixed its reference rate for dollar at 48.39 (48.41) while it fixed the reference rate for the euro at 47.34 (47.51).FORECAST: Rupee seen firming up on Friday.

FORWARD PREMIUMS

Forward premiums closed steady on Thursday. The market was dull due to bandh in protest against the terrorist attack in Gujarat. Spot and forward markets were affected with low attendance in dealing rooms as transport services were disrupted. The rupee closed almost steady against the dollar at 48.3950/4050 on export dollar sales. The benchmark six-month annualised premium closed steady at 4.10%, while the one-year annualised premium closed at 4.10%. The benchmark six-month premium, payable at end-Feb 03, closed steady at 83/85 paise. The cash/tom premium closed at 0.50/0.55 paise with the cash/spot closing at 2.25/2.75 paise levels. In month-wise premiums, October dollar closed at 18/18.25 paise, while the July 03 dollar at 168/170 paise with Aug dollar closing at 184/185 paise.FORECAST: Forward seen easy on Friday.

GILTS

Government securities (G-Secs) prices gained 5 paise amidst thin trades on Thursday. The benchmark 10-year yield closed at around 7.18% level. The market remained thin with very few papers trading in the day. At NDS, trades worth Rs 120 crore took place, as compared to average daily deals of Rs 3,500-4,000 crore. Even in a dull day, trades worth around Rs 2,000 crore takes place at NDS, a dealer said, adding that On Wednesday which remained relatively dull, trades worth Rs 1,900 crore were seen at NDS. There was very few players in the market, and therefore very few quotes were seen. Deals were seen coming in but settlements will be on Friday, another dealer said. Liquidity was comfortable as evident with the RBI accepting all the eight bids received for Rs 11,075 crore at its repos-auction at the cut of rate of 5.75%.FORECAST: G-Sec prices seen rangebound on Friday.